The trip to Asgard was short, but intense. They moved so quickly that Ward thought they traveled at the speed of light. It made him all dizzy and unfocused. When they came to a halt Ward had to blink several times to regain focus and take in his surroundings.
"Prince Thor, welcome back" Heimdal, the guard of the bifrost greeted. "I see you bring guests."
"Yes, Heimdal. Angel needed our help. This is Agent Ward, he is of SHIELD in Midgard" Thor explained pointing at the agent.
"I greet you, Agent of SHIELD" Heimdal said. "Welcome to Asgard."
"Thank you" was all Ward could say.
"Come, Agent Ward, let's get you to the palace" Thor said.
Outside the bifrost was a carriage waiting for them. Thor motioned Ward to get in first and sit down. He then placed Skye into Ward's arms.
"I thought she would like that better" he said, a smile on his face. "When will she wake up?" Thor asked.
"Should be soon" Ward answered.
The moment Thor got into the carriage it started moving towards the city. Ward looked around to take in as much as he could. The path between Asgard and the bifrost was linked by a bridge that looked like a rainbow. On each side of that bridge was the universe. Ward felt like he was in space, which he probably was and wondered how all that could exist. The city in front of them was simply put royal. He had never seen anything more magnificent, more breathtaking or beautiful anywhere on Earth. This place was so amazing that Ward silently wondered which sport Skye's favorite was. He had no way of telling how long they traveled, but it had to be at least 15 or 20 minutes. When they finally arrived and the carriage stopped, Ward handed Skye over to Thor so that he could get out of the carriage without hurting her by accident. Once on the ground he claimed her back. Thor entered the palace and asked Ward to follow him. They climbed what seemed like five floors until they finally stopped in front of a massive wooden door. Thor opened it and motioned him to enter. The room was enormous. Ward had never seen one room that big. He wanted to put Skye down, but realized there was no bed.
"The bedrooms are over here" Thor said walking towards two doors. He opened both at the same time revealing two almost identical bedrooms. "You can choose which one you like best." Ward entered one room and laid Skye on the bed. He was wondering when she would wake up, since it was almost six hours now since Simmons gave her that muscle relaxer. He decided to let her lie down for a while and return his focus to Thor.
"Thank you, Thor. I honestly appreciate what you did for us" he said, sticking out his hand.
"It is my pleasure and honor to help Angel's friends" Thor said shaking the agent's hand.
"One more thing" Ward started saying, but was interrupted by Thor.
"The bathroom is on the opposite side of the bedrooms, over there" Thor said, pointing at a third door.
"Uhm, thanks. But that wasn't what I meant." Thor looked confused and Ward continued. "Who is Angel?" Thor pointed at Skye, who was still sleeping or under the effect of the muscle relaxer, Ward couldn't tell. "But why?"
"I think this is something she will have to answer" Thor said and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Ward looked at the now closed door and wondered what that was all about. He decided to ask Skye later when she would be awake. He went to the bathroom to wash his face with cold water, feeling all of a sudden very tired.
By the time he came back he entered Skye's bedroom to check on her, but found the bed empty.
"Did you lose something" asked Skye from behind him. He turned around immediately, being greeted by a very cheerful Skye.
"You. I thought I lost you" he replied.
"Hah, you couldn't lose even if you tried. I'm like a boomerang. No matter how hard and how far you throw me I will always come back" she said, still smiling.
"I sure hope so. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, actually. And thank you, for keeping me company while I was out and…" she closed the distance between them before she spoke again "it's not polite to kiss me while I can react." Uh oh Ward thought.
"I'm sorry" he said.
"For what?"
"Kissing you?"
"Is that a question?"
"Uhm, no."
"Are you sorry you kissed me while I was asleep or better said couldn't react or are you sorry for kissing me period?"
"Uhm, the first one" he muttered.
"Good. I was hoping you would say that. Why did you do it?"
"I don't know. I felt like doing it."
"The robot has feelings after all" she said. Ward rolled his eyes. There we go. The old Skye is fully back. "One more thing, Robot, next time when you feel like kissing me" she got closer to him, their lips only inches away "don't wait for me to fall asleep. You might be surprised what happens when I'm awake" she said in a very flirtatious voice. Ward had to grin. So she likes playing games.
"And what happens when you're awake?" he asked still grinning. Skye crashed her lips over his and started kissing him. It took him a moment to realize what was happening before he wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her closer. Skye was smiling into the kiss which gave Ward the courage to try something out. Hopefully he wouldn't mess this up. This was too good. He brushed his tongue over her lips ever so slightly and a moment later her lips parted letting his tongue slip into her mouth. Skye tilted her head a little to give him more access as they deepened their kiss. They must have kissed for a very long, because when they finally stopped, needing air, they both panted, happy that they were undisturbed.
"Wow, you are a good kisser" Skye said, after regaining her breath.
"You are not so bad either" he said playfully.
"I really like the new Ward" Skye said.
"This is not the new me. It's the real me" he said, smiling from one ear to the other. "Skye, I was thinking… We should talk. There is so much I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't. You know because of the cover and all. But now, that we are on the same team and our cover is blown, at least with the team, we should get to know each other. The real me and you."
"I agree. There is something I want to tell you. Or better yet show you. But I don't know if you will freak out about it" Skye said, her smile suddenly dropping.
"Hey" Ward put his index finger under her chin, pushing it up a little so that she had to look him in the eyes. "Whatever it is I'm sure I can handle it. I guess we both have things that are hard to talk about, but I want to tell you mine. If you don't want to tell me yours, that's fine. I won't push. I want you to feel comfortable talking to me. I want us to start from the beginning. What do you say?" Skye just nodded, a hint of fear in her eyes. If Ward wouldn't have known her he might not have even seen it.
"You told me you have a favorite spot here. I would like to see it" Ward changed the subject.
"Oh, you will love it. I promise. Come on, let's go" Skye tried to leave, but Ward held her by her wrist. "What is it?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.
"You should put something on first" he said nodding at her. Skye looked down on herself and realized that she was still wearing a hospital gown. She walked over to the closet and looked for a dress. When she found one she went to the bathroom to change. It didn't take long and Skye came out wearing a beautiful green dress. She grabbed Ward's hand and dragged him after her as they started climbing one of the palace's towers. When they finally reached the top Skye motioned Ward to look over the city. Ward was fascinated. The city looked even more astonishing from up there then it did when they entered.
"And? You like it?"
"It's absolutely beautiful" he said, still taking in the wonderful scenery.
"This is my favorite spot."
"I get why."
"Ok. Let's talk."
The two of them sat down on the bench, their backs now slightly turned to the city beneath them. They stayed there for hours talking about absolutely everything that ever happened in theor lives. For Ward this was highly unusual. He never confided this much into one person. But with Skye it seemed as natural and necessary as breathing. He told her about his childhood, about his older brother beating him and then forcing him to beat up his younger brother, about the well incident, about military school, escaping and setting his family house on fire, with his older brother still inside, which he didn't know at the time. His time in juvie and the first time he met John Garrett. About his time in the wilderness, alone with just a dog, how Garrett forced him to kill Buddy, his dog, because he was a weakness, about everything he had to do for Garrett and Hydra, until he finally decided to come clean and became Fury's spy. Which let to this moment here. Skye listened to him and was barely able to hold back tears. At first she fought them, but then she let then run down her cheeks. Ward was unable to look at her while he spoke, never seeing her tears, but the moment he turned to look at her his heart ached.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you all of that at once. I'm sorry" he tried to apologize, but Skye shook her head.
"No, it's fine. I'm so proud of you for doing the right thing. After all that crap that happened to you, you turned out to be a good man. I'm so sorry that all those bad things happened to you and I promise I will protect you, so that you never have to go back to such things ever again."
Ward had to smile. She was still his rookie. Yeah, she was better than when they started, but for her to think that he needed her protection. He could take care of himself. If anyone protected someone than it was him protecting her. But she looked so amazing when she made that promise. His heart started beating faster. The fact that she would do anything she could to protect him made him feel proud and loved.
"Don't worry, I can take care of myself. But I will protect you. I will make sure that no one ever touches you."
"That's cute. But you know that I will have to protect myself at some point. Ok my turn. You already know about St. Agnes and all the foster homes I went to. I didn't leave St. Agnes when I was 18. I left just after turning 16. I lived on the streets for a while until I met Miles. He taught me a lot about hacking, but he really got on my nerves with his conspiracy theories. At that time I was a mess. I wanted to know about my parents, why they left me, I smoked weed, not to worry amounts, the occasional shoplift, until one day, after I had a fight with a guy I was dating, sort of – not Miles – I ran away. You need to know we were at the beach, not for R&R, but because we had no where to go. He always used to say all we need is a starry sky above our heads and we can do anything we like. Total crap. Of course, he always said that after we smoked pot. Should have known better, I know. So there we were, having another fight and I run away. I tried to get to the street but when I was about to stop a car to give me a ride back in town, my Ex called me I turned around, lost balance, stumbled backwards and got hit by a car. I woke up three days later in a hospital. At first I thought it was a dream. The room was beautiful, filled with flowers and stuffed animals and chocolates, balloons that said Get Well or and those were really weird and kind of freaked me out It's a boy or It's a girl. Well after the initial shock I figured whoever brought me these bought them in the souvenir shop of the hospital. Later that day I got a visit from a woman. Turned out she was the assistant of the man who hit me with his car. Pepper Potts."
"Stop. Pepper Potts. Isn't she Tony Stark's girlfriend?" Ward asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, the same. But at that time she was just his assistant. She apologized for the ballons, but told me that Tony insisted. She told me that he would of course pay for all my medical bills and anything I might need. I just had to ask. So I asked. I asked to meet Tony Stark, even for just a short moment. I didn't want anything other than that. Well I did, but I wanted to ask him. So when he finally came, four days later, he sat down next to my bed and we started talking. He apologized for hitting me with a car and…"
"I'm so sorry for hitting you with my car" he said.
"Don't worry, doctors say I'll be fine. Good as new actually" she tried to laugh, but flinched when she felt a sharp pain.
"You ok, kid?" he asked genuinely concerned.
"Yeah, just need to stop laughing for a while."
"What were you doing on the street anyway?"
"Broke up with my stupid pothead of a boyfriend."
"Huh… Miss Potts told me you wanted to ask me something, that only I could help you with." Skye smiled brightly and nodded.
"You see, I'm a huge fan. And I always wanted to ask you something."
"Ok, go ahead, kid."
"Would you like to be my first? You know in bed, my first?" Skye asked, a serious look on her face.
"What?" Ward almost yelled. He couldn't believe what she just said.
"Awesome. Tomy had the exact same face when I told him" she started laughing.
"Did you? I mean…" Ward asked, hoping she would say no.
"Of course not. I messed with him. After I told that I was just having fun he started laughing and he stayed there for nearly five hours. By the end of that day he offered me a job and a place to stay. At first I thought he was crazy, but when his driver came to pick me up the day I was released and drove me to Tony's Malibu house my adventure with Stark began."
